{"id":667775,"date":"2026-03-19T23:59:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667775\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T23:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:59:17","slug":"trent-perrys-rise-makes-ucla-basketball-dangerous-in-march-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667775\/","title":{"rendered":"Trent Perry’s rise makes UCLA basketball dangerous in March Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Trent Perry commenced a celebratory dance after sinking a step-back 3-pointer over a team manager.<\/p>\n

Setting up in one corner and taking one pass after another during the informal shooting session on the eve of the NCAA Tournament, the UCLA guard made most of his 3-pointers. His mouth hung agape in surprise when one rattled out of the rim.<\/p>\n

It seems that\u00a0the Bruins\u2019 breakthrough star can do pretty much anything he wants these days.<\/p>\n

\"UCLAUCLA\u2019s Trent Perry (0) has made the most of his opportunity to play in a three-guard lineup. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s emergence as part of a three-guard starting lineup has elevated his team into a fashionable pick to outperform its seed in the coming weeks. First things first for seventh-seeded UCLA, which plays 10th-seeded UCF<\/a> in the first round on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a special stage,\u201d Perry told The California Post on Thursday afternoon while sitting in front of his locker, \u201cand dreams can come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

The super sophomore might feel like he\u2019s already in the middle of one given his recent rise.<\/p>\n

A midseason injury replacement for Skyy Clark in the starting lineup, Perry erupted for 30 points against Penn State a week later and hasn\u2019t slowed down since Clark returned last month.<\/p>\n

When point guard Donovan Dent went down with a calf injury<\/a> against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, Perry took over running the team and finished with nine assists in a near-upset of the Boilermakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasketball is basketball,\u201d Perry said, \u201cand especially with this team, whatever they need me to do \u2014 run the point, be the 2 guard \u2014 whatever it takes to win [I\u2019ll do], and so it was pretty cool to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s ability to make 3-pointers and clutch free throws while also getting to the rim and finding open teammates has made him one of the most indispensable Bruins.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s become the team\u2019s third-leading scorer, averaging 12.7 points per game, while also making 41.2% of his 3-pointers. Don\u2019t make the mistake of sending him to the foul line late in games. Without so much as one jangled nerve, Perry made all six free throws<\/a> in the final 36 seconds last week to help his team hold off Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d said David Rebibo, who coached Perry at Harvard-Westlake High. \u201cIt was never a matter of if, it was just a matter of when, and very similar to his high school career. Once it clicked, watch out, because he was gonna be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UCLAUCLA guard Trent Perry (0) has become the team\u2019s third-leading scorer this season, averaging 12.7 points per game. AP<\/p>\n

His remaining in the starting lineup upon Clark\u2019s return last month has helped with spacing for shooters while also opening driving lanes and quickening the Bruins\u2019 pace. Once fighting for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament, UCLA (23-11) broke free of bubble trouble with six wins in its last eight games.<\/p>\n

Perry is the latest in a long line of players who have developed into NBA prospects under Cronin and his staff. Cronin said Perry\u2019s willingness to accept coaching has accelerated his improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give him all the credit because the coaching works more for guys with the right attitude,\u201d Cronin said. \u201cSome guys, you can coach them for 20 years and they would be the same player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s rise from a player averaging 3.7 points as a freshman to someone capable of carrying a team has prompted his coach to lobby for his return next season. Cronin has mentioned how much he wants Perry to come back for more than a month now.<\/p>\n

While there will be plenty of factors that go into Perry\u2019s decision \u2014 including how steep of a rise he might command in NIL compensation \u2014 the Bruins appear to be in a good position to retain him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Trent loves UCLA, he loves his teammates,\u201d Rebibo said. \u201cHe loves his coaches, and I know he\u2019s really excited about the potential of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. But I also know, listen, Mom and Dad live in LA, and, and I think being a Bruin is important to him, and winning is important to him, and all those things aligned \u2014 you know, I don\u2019t know what the future holds, but I know he loves where he\u2019s at, and I know he wants to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Especially on college basketball\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Perry said he used to envision creating his own one shining moment in the NCAA Tournament, taking the shot that could win a game in the final seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d he said, \u201cand if you miss the shot, you\u2019ve got to add some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time, like everything else, seems to be on his side, plenty of March moments to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Trent Perry commenced a celebratory dance after sinking a step-back 3-pointer over a team manager. Setting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,160,217,7456,231,1400,66,4262],"class_list":{"0":"post-667775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-march-madness","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-tournament","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ucla-bruins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116258562393109792","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}